Hermione's Mistake
by SiriStar
Summary: After two years of searching Hermione finally finds what she's looking for and more... HG/SS.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

She swam, for what seemed an eternity, in ebony eyes, before allowing her gaze to drift over him in his entirety. He was not at all as she remembered. His hair was shorter than it had been in her school days and more fashionably styled, and though it accentuated his nose this only served to make it look as though he belonged to some great aristocratic breed. He leant back in his chair with an ease and elegance she had not known he possessed, and though he was smartly attired, his shirt and waistcoat were incomparable with the button-downed image he had maintained whilst teaching. She also noticed he had attained somewhat of a potbelly, which caused the buttons of his waistcoat to pull taught as he was sat, however she rather thought the extra weight had gone some way to dissipate the gauntness of his appearance, making his face fuller and healthier looking.

'You're gawping Miss Granger, it's really not becoming of a … _woman_ of your age,' he said, and Hermione swore she saw the briefest of smiles flicker over his thin lips. She closed her mouth and stepped towards his table, he motioned for her to take the seat opposite him and she obliged without a word. He observed her for a long while, probably, she thought, in just the same manner she had previously observed him. 'Why are you here?' he asked at length.

She realised there was to be no small talk. 'I … you … I mean …' she stammered. She felt suddenly as though she were back at school, a little girl again. He raised a questioning eyebrow and she thought she ought continue before he became bored with her and disappeared again. 'I came to find you,' she managed after a slow, deep intake of breath, 'for Harry.'

'Potter?' he asked, and now he really was smiling, 'do you want coffee?' he added. She nodded mutely and watched as he ordered, with the utmost politeness, two cappuccinos and some biscotti. 'What does Potter want with me?' he asked.

'Well … you're a war hero, Harry feels he's … somewhat … indebted to you and he wants to return the favour as best he can,' she replied.

'And how is that? With an Order of Merlin and a sack full of galleons?' he asked in a tone familiarly laced with sarcasm.

Her brow creased, 'he's knows it not comparable to the sacrifices you made, but it's something … he wants your efforts recognised and I suppose … well I suppose he feels guilty.'

'That is more like it, Miss Granger,' Snape smirked as their beverages arrived, 'he wants appease himself, not I!'

'If he'd have just known, things might have been different!' she snapped, finding herself suddenly on the defensive. She had rather naively surmised that Snape's opinions of Harry might have altered, as Harry's had of Snape. Though, in hindsight, she realised she had omitted from her belief the fact that Snape was no longer indebted to Harry, he had no reason to like Harry, or even pretend to, for that matter.

'Things could not have been any other way,' he said simply, laughing into his now half-empty mug of coffee. 'I have nothing to apologise for.'

'Perhaps not. But your opinions of Harry are based on the way he acted at school and quite frankly, Professor, he gave as good as he got!' she sighed. 'I was not suggesting you become friends,' she said, scooping the froth off the top of her coffee with a spoon before eating it, 'just a little more courteous,' she said, with a genuine smile.

He looked at her oddly, with his eyes squinted slightly before he spoke again. 'So if it is the case that Potter wants to ensure I get what I'm due, why isn't he here himself? Busy was he?'

'Well,' she began. 'Harry spent three years looking for you, even while he was training to be an Auror and didn't have the money to travel he'd make sure he went to search in every place there was ever a reported sighting of you … he tried, but finally resigned himself to the fact that you didn't want to be found!'

'Just about the most sensible thought the boy ever had,' Snape grunted, 'I would have thought it was evident that I wanted to avoid the limelight your friend was so eager to drown in but… what about you miss Granger?'

'What about me?'

'Why couldn't you let it rest?'

'I …' she hesitated. She could hardly tell him that he had become her project, her distraction from reality … her obsession. 'I just couldn't,' she said. He smirked and looked her straight in the eye. She knew what he was trying to do and averted her gaze. There was a long period of silence in which Hermione busied herself with her coffee whilst deciding how best to approach her next question. Finally she said, 'we saw you die, Professor, the snake and –'

'Call me Severus, miss Granger, I am no longer your Professor,' he said, leaning forwards and placing his elbows in the table.

'Then call me Hermione,' she said, somewhat flustered, 'I am no longer your student.'

'Very well … Hermione, continue.'

'We went back to the shack for your body and, well, you were gone. We saw you die!'

'Hmm… perhaps you saw what you wanted to see?'

'What? We didn't get on but that doesn't mean I would have wanted you to die!'

He smiled again, 'you can tell Potter I'm grateful for him clearing my name, but I don't expect anything else from him except to be left alone.'

This was not the response she had expected. It was rather disappointing, in fact. She had wanted him to return to Britain with her and see how things had changed, how he would be hailed a hero, the new Ministry had offered him a respectable position and indeed he would receive and first degree Order of Merlin and a handsome sum of galleons would be added to Gringott's account. She couldn't understand why he wouldn't want to return, it seemed to her that he was being his usual petulant self, no matter to what degree he appeared to have altered externally, she supposed he was too set in his ways, too set on hating Harry and too selfish to understand that Harry might want to apologise and right, or at least make things more amiable, between them. She looked up to find Snape was eyeing her with amusement, when suddenly he began to laugh. Not the cold, harsh mocking laugh she had become accustomed to at Hogwarts, but a genuine laugh as though he had found something extraordinarily funny.

'You couldn't be further off the mark, Hermione,' he said, concluding his chortling but continuing to smile at her, she realised in the time she'd been daydreaming about his more insufferable traits he had been using legilimens on her. 'You see, here I'm free, I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, with… _whoever_ I want. Since that night in the Shrieking Shack I've found a freedom I never had before. For the first time in my life I have no one to answer to… whether it be Voldemort, Dumbledore or whoever. For the first time in my life I'm my own man!'

She gaped at him, slightly taken aback, a small exclamation of 'oh!' being all she could manage. She had never thought Snape might put so much sentimentality into his thoughts.

'And anyway,' he continued, sitting back in his chair and looking suddenly solemn, 'I thought I made it quite clear when I gave Potter my memory that I didn't do what I did for him?'

Hermione nodded, 'I suppose you did,' she replied, 'in that case, I'm sorry I bothered you. I'll leave you be.' She plunged a hand into her pocket in search of her purse, from which she extracted a few coins for the coffee and stood up to leave.

'I bought the coffees,' Snape said, handing her the money back. 'Look, Hermione,' he said, standing also. She'd quite forgotten how tall he was but he not longer loomed over her like he used to loom over her cauldron to inspect her work at school. 'It's not that I don't appreciate your coming here though… I don't understand why you let searching for me consume two years of your life. I had rather thought the dislike was mutual?'

'It is,' she said, swinging her handbag over her shoulder. 'Goodbye… Severus,' she said with a weak smile before turning to leave.

He watched her walk away, admiring her form as she went. In the intermittent years, between the final battle and this moment in a rustic café in the centre of a small Transylvanian village, she had grown from a child into a woman. He had maintained a pretence of disliking her during her school years for the sake of his position as a spy, and though indeed her know-it-all demeanour had been incensing to say the least, there was no doubt that her intelligence had always been somewhat attractive. She disappeared through the door and was lost in the crowded street outside. Meeting with her had been particularly obscure for Severus. He had learned some weeks ago that she was trying to find him and after spending most of this time trying all he could to avoid her he had finally decided meeting with her would be the best way to get rid of her once and for all. He had seen no one from his past life since the final battle, and, as he had told Hermione that was the way he wanted things to be. He had spent two years trying to forget the past, and seeing her had immediately brought all those memories flooding back. He sighed, for the first time in two years he was overwhelmed with loneliness.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I would just briefly like to apologise for the use of 'Bolstrad' as the name for a Transylvanian village. I am sure it either sounds grossly stereotypical or embarrassingly wrong, but, unfortunately, that is as far as my imagination would stretch on the subject. If I'm perfectly honest I know very little about Transylvania and Moldova (which is also mentioned), and my research actually lead to very little information, so again, sorry for any discrepancies.

_Chapter Two_

Renting a small house crammed between a dusty bookshop and seldom-visited perfumers, Severus had been settled in the all-wizarding, Transylvanian village of Bolstrad for almost six months. Prior to this, wandering like some Romantic hermit, he had moved through Europe, resting mainly within Muggle communities to ensure he did not divulge his location to the British Ministry of Magic, but feeling Bolstrad was remote enough for him to live comfortably without his identity being discovered. How wrong he had been.

For the first time in as long as he could remember he was at liberty to make his own decisions; go wherever he chose to go and associate with the people whom _he_ chose to associate… For two years this existence had served him well, but that visit from Miss Granger, two days previously, had stirred within him a new restlessness. Initially he had thought it was because she was a reminder of his old life, that she had merely drawn memories, long since buried, back to the surface, and now he was going to have to try and forget all over again. But, even after copious helpings of Ogden's finest, he still felt a twang of discomfort deep in his abdomen at the thought of the Hermione's wide hazel eyes looking at him with the same ingenious yet inquisitive expression she'd once looked at her Potions professor with. He resigned that he would merely have to carry on with his life as he had been before miss Granger's interruption.

~oOo~

Hermione sealed the envelope and attached it to the owl's leg, allowing it to nibble playfully at her hand before it swept out of the window, bound for The Burrow. The letter it carried was informing Ron that she would remain in Europe for two weeks longer. Although she had been to French and Italian ski-resorts with her parents when she was younger she had never had the opportunity to travel through wizarding Europe and thought she ought to seize the opportunity whilst it presented itself. Tonight she would dine out in a quaint little restaurant she'd seen yesterday and tomorrow she would catch a train through the Carpathian Mountains and into Moldova, before heading north. She had maintained an acquaintance with Viktor Krum and would write to him and see if he wished to meet at some point before she headed back west.

Throwing on the nicest robes she'd brought with her and running a comb through her knotted hair she left the inn in which she had stayed for just less than a week and made her way through the twilit Bolstrad streets. Though it was summer the old cobbled roads leant an eerie façade to the village in the dim light, a contrast with the scent of rose that drifted from the neat cottage gardens. The sun was just beginning to dip below the distant Carpathians when she reached the restaurant. She asked for a table out of the way, so as not to draw attention to the fact she dined alone and was shown to one on a small upstairs veranda that overlooked a small stream trickling into a dense forest.

Flicking through the book she's brought for company some thirty minutes later as she waited for her main course she was disturbed by a low voice behind her.

'Miss Granger!' it said, and of course she immediately recognised to whom it belonged, 'I thought you would have gone.' She turned around in her chair to see Snape, looking rather uncomfortable at the top of the stairway that lead back down into the main part of the restaurant.

'This is her?' another voice, thick with the local accent, questioned.

'This is her… why exactly are you still here?' Snape asked, fixing Hermione's gaze.

She noted how angry he looked before replying and adjusted her tone to suit. She had not come here to aggravate him. 'I'm leaving tomorrow,' she replied with a brief smile, 'for Moldova.'

'Moldova?' he questioned, his expression shifting.

'I thought I might travel a little before I head back to England.'

'Well…'

She raised a questioning eyebrow.

'Their wizarding communities are still plagued with dark magic, you should…'

Her eyebrow arched further still.

'… be careful,' he mumbled.

'Oh, well, thank you for you concern Severus,' she said, quenching the enjoyment she felt at his discomfort.

'You are on your own?' Snape's companion asked. Snape shot him a dark glance but the companion smiled wryly. 'My friend has done nothing but talk about you since you visited him. Perhaps we could join you, if it is not too imposing?'

'Fiers!' Snape grunted, stepping forwards and pushing the man behind him. 'Sorry,' he added to Hermione, 'I hope you have a good journey, goodbye.'

'You can join me,' Hermione said, smiling. She thought she might take the opportunity to glean some more information from Snape, maybe even try again to convince him to return to England with her. Anyway, she was still enjoying how unpleasant Snape was finding the whole scenario. All he had put her through at Hogwarts was not forgotten it seemed.

'No –' Snape said, moving towards the exit.

'Fantastic!' Fiers interjected, taking the chair opposite Hermione and summoning another from a nearby table for Snape.

'I'm going,' Snape said.

'You have order your food already,' Fiers said before turning to Hermione, 'my friend is such as… how do you say? Spoil sport. Is that right?'

'Quite,' Hermione laughed.

Snape rolled his eyes and sighed with exasperation. He moved forwards and slumped into the remaining chair. 'This is entirely inappropriate,' he said petulantly. 'I'm only staying because it wouldn't be fair to leave you in _his_ company all night,' he added, jerking his head in Fiers's direction.

Fiers raised an eyebrow at Snape before turning his attentions to Hermione. 'So, 'Ermione… it is 'Ermione, yes?'

Hermione nodded. From the way he behaved Hermione deduced that Fiers must be about the same age as Snape, though he looked a little younger. He was a good-looking man with thick dark hair, kind features and was evidently well built. Apparently he worked in the apothecary in the village, where Snape had made his acquaintance whilst shopping for potions ingredients, and they often met for meals and drinks.

'You are not married, 'Ermione?' Fiers inquired after explaining somewhat about himself.

'No, no,' she assured him, 'I have a boyfriend though.'

'A lucky man!' Fiers chuckled. 'But unlucky for me.'

Not used to such flattery, or blatant attempts at flirtation, Hermione felt her cheeks redden and giggled like a schoolgirl. The conversation continued thus for some time. Hermione was polite but found it increasingly difficult as time went by to disguise the fact Fiers was at best a trifle irritating and she would be quite relieved when the night drew to its close. Respite did arrive along with their food, however, when the conversation temporarily diminished as they ate.

'You have room for dessert 'Ermione?' Fiers inquired the moment Hermione placed her cutlery together on her plate.

'Oh, I don't think so,' she replied, noting the relief in Snape's face. Apart from the odd interjected attempt to quieten Fiers, Snape had said hardly anything all night. He had sighed with exasperation when Fiers had asked Hermione about her time at Hogwarts and how she'd enjoyed Snape's teaching, and had smiled appreciatively at her diplomatic response. He had seemed embarrassed when Fiers repeatedly questioned Hermione about her love life and on more than one occasion had told his friend to change the subject, to which Hermione had smiled appreciatively. In fact, despite the fact he was not much of a conversationalist, Hermione was rather surprised to find that she had enjoyed his company over dinner. They had said more with their eyes, their clandestine glances and occasional knowing smirks, she thought, than Fiers had expressed in words all evening.

Feeling obliged Hermione remained at the table while Fiers had desserts and sipped at the coffee he insisted she have. It was dark by the time they left the restaurant and stood on the cobbles outside to say their farewells. After a prolonged moment in which Fiers expressed elaborate well wishes before heading back to his home in the north of Bolstrad, Hermione and Severus were left alone.

'I have to apologise for him,' Snape said once Fiers was out of earshot, 'he can be rather in your face if you're not expecting it.'

'No, he was fun. He clearly means well,' she replied.

'Indeed. Er, where are you staying?' he asked.

'The inn just down the way,' she said, pointing in the opposite direction to where Fiers had disappeared.

'I'll walk you back.'

'There's no need, Severus. I know the way.'

'It's not a question of you knowing the way. I can't have you walking around the streets on your own at night!'

'I got to Bolstrad all on my own, I think I'll make it a hundred yards down the road just fine, thank you!'

He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. 'I suppose,' he spoke again at length, 'that after seven years of protecting you and your friends at Hogwarts I can't escape the habit. I'll walk you back to the inn, _Hermione_.'

She was not sure what the tone of his voice as he said her name was suggesting, but it made her accept his proposal. 'OK,' she replied, hating, but unable to escape, the breathiness of her voice. They walked back to the inn in silence. When they arrived she turned to face him. 'Is there really nothing I can say that will make you come back to England?' she asked, hopefully.

'Hermione, I have plenty of money and here I have anonymity and liberty, the two things I most desired in all the time we were fighting that godforsaken war!' he said. 'My past is not something to be celebrated and here no one knows of my past, so they don't judge me by it,' he paused looking momentarily nostalgic and… was that sadness in his eyes? 'Dumbledore once told me,' he continued, 'that's it doesn't matter what a person is born; it's who they choose to be that does. Well here I can be the person I chose to be a long time ago but that in England I was never allowed to be because no one, other than Dumbledore, would ever forget that I'd been a Death Eater… Do you understand?'

Hermione looked at her old Potions master in the eye, for the first time since Harry had told her what he had seen of Snape's memories before the final battle, she felt overwhelmingly sorry for him. Without quite thinking about it she lunged forwards and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him tightly. He stood stiffly, unmoving, his arms by his sides, but he gave no indication that he wanted her to abate. After a long moment however she did, reluctantly, pull away. She placed her hands on his shoulders and met his gaze again. Then their heads dipped mutually and their lips softly grazed. It was not exactly a kiss but in that instant Hermione felt she understand Severus better than anyone ever had, as though he had disclosed to her his deepest and darkest secret, the very thing he had strived his entire life to keep locked away: his emotion.

'I understand,' she breathed as she pulled away again. Then she turned and swept swiftly into the inn.


End file.
